Robert Steven Rhine is the founder, Publisher and Deaditor-In-Chief of Girls and Corpses Magazine, an award winning author and a man of unique genius -- and we knew that our readers would love to learn as much as they can from him. We proudly present this piece as a tribute to all those corpses out there... living and dead. 

Q1) First and foremost, I understand that you created Girls and Corpses Magazine as a result of accidental observation. You noticed chicks sexually violating an unsuspecting corpse; I imagine that must have been difficult to watch?

I was a mere child when at my cousin's funeral I went outside to smoke a bowl, looked in the window I saw these two cheerleader types molesting my cousin's cadaver.  One was riding him like the arcade pony in front of the supermarket. I was so traumatized that I spent the next six months in an asylum.  Years later, I again noticed girls attracted to the corpses that I keep around the house and I realized... that there was something about 'Girls and Corpses.'  The rest is publishing history. Please check out the magazine here: http://girlsandcorpses.com/ and back issues here: http://girlsandcorpses.com/backissues.html

Q2) Figures, the living do everything they can think of to get into the pants of women, and here they are flocking around corpses. Who would’ve thought?

Me. But I'm not your normal kinda guy.  I had a severe head injury that nearly killed me when I was ten and made me go blind in one eye for some time. It's the basis of my first book "My Brain Escapes Me."  I always knew I would be working with beautiful women.  I just didn't know that it would take hanging around corpses.  Or, should I corpses hanging around me in my garage.

Q3) I would imagine a magazine like this would generate all sorts of wild responses ranging from laughing to arousal, and from vomiting to sheer hate. Did you have any challenges with that?

Only if they vomit directly on me -- though I have discovered that's a popular fetish too, which we covered in the magazine (We didn't cover the magazine in vomit... well, you get the idea). Everyone has a reaction when they see or hear Girls and Corpses Magazine. But, mostly, the magazine is an intelligence test. If they have a sense of humor, understand parody, satire and irreverent dark humor, then Girls and Corpses will shatter their funny bone. But some people won't even look past the cover figuring that it is the worst fetish magazine of all time. But they are wrong.  We are really a blend of Maxim meets 'Dawn of The Dead' meets National Lampoon (when it used to be funny, back in the 70's). I encourage people to write into the magazine at: info@girlsandcorpses.com and share their thoughts.  I prefer to run negative letters because they are more fun to respond to. Here are a few letters:  http://girlsandcorpses.com/print10/print10_letterstothedeaditor.html

And here is the warning we give our readers: 

SURGEON GENERALS WARNING:

Side effects to reading Girls and Corpses Magazine may include: Nausea, vomiting, giggling, rickets, munchies, intestinal gas, heavy breathing, priapism, elephantitis, staring, bluish tint in genital region, unprecedented pubic hair growth, facial tics, priapism, fever, anal rash, bleeding orifices, sense of unreality, repeating other people’s words, glowing green feces, impotence, skim milk lactation in women, hair growth in eyeballs, penis growth from forehead, nipples occurring in random places, vomiting meatballs, psychosis, homicidal ideation, coprophagia, temporary levitation, jaundice, foul-smelling sweat, tongue tumors, urinating diarrhea, inappropriate laughter, hysteria, schizophrenia, synesthesia, vein disintegration, confusion, anti-social behavior, death, premature aging, formation of tail, blindness, spontaneous orgasm, xenophobia, paranoia, crotch rot, skin sloughing, absurdist mental state, immortality and spontaneous combustion.  G&C is for external use only. Please consult your mortician in case of accidental or forced ingestion. 

Q4) How difficult was the marketing? Any help from any celebrity friends?

Rob and Sheri Zombie were the biggest help in the very beginning, when Sheri appeared on our first cover with Rob's corpse (which he approved). Other actors who bravely took the leap of faith were Danielle Harris, Sid Haig, Tom Green and Scout-Taylor Compton.

Marketing the magazine is a breeze. All I had to do was launch and within a week I had interviews in Maxim, Stuff, Penthouse, Bizarre, and others.  Our site crashed three times as we kept having to enlarge our server size. We now get two million visitors a month and our magazine is sold on newsstands in the U.S and Canada.  We also sell worldwide, especially well in England, Australia and Japan.  We even have a German edition.

Q5) The models in the magazine are stunning in their own way, but have you encountered any difficulties with any of them? No names of course, but were any squeamish to the idea?

Oddly, I have never encountered a squeamish model. Swedish, yes. Girls just like the idea of posing with corpses -- go figure.  It's truly a phenomenon but I have never ever had trouble finding models and I am contacted by hundreds of girls each month begging to be in the magazine, including some celebrities. Usually, it's the managers and agents we have problems with, such as Danielle Harris's rep not wanted her to be photographed in bed with a corpse for our Corpse Confidential issue. Then, she appeared topless for ten minutes in the Halloween remake.  Another time we wanted to do a cover for the movie "Teeth," about a girl who bites off men's genitalia with the chompers in her vagina (I'm not making this up). But the studio said we were 'too extreme' for their classy movie. Huh?!  The movie Sorority Row also snubbed us for our cover. I printed the actual letters from their publicity department here, if you want to see the idiocy we have to deal with: http://girlsandcorpses.com/print7/deaditorial.html 

But what these studios don't know is that I was Senior Unit Publicist for Columbia Tri-Star Pictures and Universal Studios for a decade and I could do their job with my eyes closed. Most of these movies would never get their movie on a magazine cover on the newsstands, so I am surprised when they turn us down and not surprised when their movie fizzles in flames like a lit fart (Hmmm... what's that smell?  Sorority Row).

Q6) You must get a kick out of interacting with strangers, introducing yourself and what you do? I would imagine you cause quite the stir with the ladies, too?

It's definitely an ice breaker.  Sometimes I see a beautiful girl who would be perfect for our magazine. But it's tough to just sashay over to a young beauty and say, "Hey baby, want to be in Girls and Corpses?"  In the early days, I did have a few girls run off, the ones I couldn't catch.  But now I first ask if they have a dark sense of humor, followed by "do you like horror?"  If they answer 'yes' to both of these questions, I hit them with the title and hope they don't call the cops.

Q7) You’re not only an editor of a morbid magazine but also an author of several pieces. My Brain Escapes Me is terrific mesh of humor and horror, which is something that comes natural to you. What encouraged you to do the piece? For our authors out there, did you discover any obstacles during the process?

The only obstacles I've ever encountered are my own procrastination. I started writing fiction for magazine and sold to over 100 publications before I decided to do a book.  I was surprised by all the positive reviews and that encouraged me to continue writing.

You can see my other written works here: http://www.robertrhine.com/

Q8)  With all the bullshit that circulates around us today, you must have a plethora of ideas chomping at the bit?

For some reason I have never been thin on ideas. It's getting my brain to shut up so I can go to sleep.  I am writing this, for instance at 3:13 a.m.  I never lack for concepts or gags for Girls and Corpses Magazine.  We are, "The first comedy magazine about death," so there is endless material.  Also, there are no comedy magazines on the newsstand anymore, so that's a void we fill. I started as a comedy writer so I see things through that prism.  But I also have a very twisted sensibility.  So, when you are reading Girls and Corpses you should be saying 'WTF' with every page flip.

Q9) How have your attitudes towards death, afterlife, and religion changed over the years working with Girls and Corpses and as a human being? (We are totally cool with whatever you say. I’m not in the business of editing out what people love to hear about.)

I've never been very religious and I think society has been at the mercy of religion for a thousand years, give or take.  I did a special issue of Girls and Corpses devoted to the subject titled "Religion Is Dead."  I even got Jim Caviezel (The Passion Of The Christ) to do an interview for that issue.  I went after all religions and even atheists.  Here's that issue: http://girlsandcorpses.com/backissues_print09.html

Anyone who meets in a group with a leader, repeats things in unison and sings spiritual songs makes me laugh. Religion is pretty funny -- all those priests spouting piety while their pants are around their ankles with an altar boy on their knees.  I can't believe people still sit and listen to their sanctimonious drivel and even hand over their hard earned dollars. As far as my feeling of death and the afterlife, I think the more you explore death the more comforting it becomes. Most people freak out over the subject but I really enjoy learning about it and I've even gone to a couple autopsies.  It's utterly fascinating seeing the human body splayed open. We are so colorful inside!  Bright oranges and yellows. Not like you see in the horror movies. After I attend an autopsy, I always go out for a big lunch. Autopsies really make me hungry for some reason.

Q10) lastly, what’s your drink of choice?

Britney Spear's urine.